China around 1820

Stick height cm 19
Spread         cm 33
21 sticks plus 2 in fretted ivory

China,Canton, around 1820

This fan must be dated at the beginning of the XIX century, because it differs for dimension and decoration from that one of the end of the preceding century (at comb), even if it has a type of workmanship very similar.  The newness of this type is given by the presence of identifiable characters and represented in a horizontal  sequence as it was a story ( as probably is, linked to the myth and to the Chinese tradition). The characters singularly represented at the end of the sticks ( from the left) 4°-5°-9°-10°-11°-12°-13°-17°-18° are gathered in different groups. The abundance of vegetation (willow and bamboo) and of gazebo, all this makes this kind of fan maybe a little overloaded. The central anonymous oval implies the possibility of a later decoration.